tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post3469563837272347663..comments2024-03-26T04:19:38.862-07:00Comments on kitchen table math, the sequel: Changing our AssumptionsCatherine Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-64635963934682606032008-02-21T09:05:00.000-08:002008-02-21T09:05:00.000-08:00See page 77 of the 2/25/08 New Yorker this link wo...See page 77 of the 2/25/08 <I>New Yorker</I> this link works for me<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2008/02/25/080225crbo_books_kolbert" REL="nofollow">What Was I Thinking: The lastest reasoning about our irrational ways</A><BR/><BR/>Elizabeth Kolbert's review of Dan Ariely's <I>Predictibly Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions</I><BR/><BR/>"In “Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions” (Harper; $25.95), Dan Ariely, a professor at M.I.T., offers a taxonomy of financial folly. His approach is empirical rather than historical or theoretical. In pursuit of his research, Ariely has served beer laced with vinegar, left plates full of dollar bills in dorm refrigerators, and asked undergraduates to fill out surveys while masturbating. He claims that his experiments, and others like them, reveal the underlying logic to our illogic. “Our irrational behaviors are neither random nor senseless—they are systematic,” he writes. “We all make the same types of mistakes over and over.” So attached are we to certain kinds of errors, he contends, that we are incapable even of recognizing them as errors. Offered FREE shipping, we take it, even when it costs us."<BR/><BR/>The review is an introduction to behavioral economics and Ariely's work.<BR/><BR/>I find it fascinating.Liz Ditzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03455722013211350247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-42589582321737331192008-02-20T20:06:00.000-08:002008-02-20T20:06:00.000-08:00Does "priors" capture what's going on, though?I'm ...Does "priors" capture what's going on, though?<BR/><BR/>I'm not sure.... (not sure how "priors" is defined in this setting).Catherine Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-45909348764240397212008-02-20T20:05:00.000-08:002008-02-20T20:05:00.000-08:00This also brings to mind one of my all-time favori...This also brings to mind one of my all-time favorite pieces of advice.<BR/><BR/>I've told this story before, so some of you guys should pass on by. <BR/><BR/>This was a graduate program in medical research at Columbia. There was a professor who was world-famous for research and for teaching; he was the mentor of half the major researchers working now, it seems.<BR/><BR/>He was teaching the brainiacs.<BR/><BR/>His main piece of advice to his students was: If what you're doing isn't working, try something else.Catherine Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-10078184670744300152008-02-20T20:03:00.000-08:002008-02-20T20:03:00.000-08:00Behaviorists always say that the core human approa...Behaviorists always say that the core human approach to frustration is to keep doing what you're doing now but louder and more often.Catherine Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.com